Roles · Performance Testing Engineer · Mid-level
7 core skills, 57 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.
This page lists what a Mid-level } is expected to know and do, skill by skill. Core skills are the ones a manager and peers assess in a review cycle; the rest count only in self-assessment. Main areas: Cloud & Infrastructure, Testing & QA.
Grouped by area. The label on the right is the expected depth: Awareness, Working, Advanced or Expert.
Understands TCP/IP stack behavior under load — analyzes connection pooling, keepalive settings, and socket exhaustion. Configures TLS/SSL for performance impact assessment. Works with load balancers and reverse proxies to test traffic distribution. Understands DNS resolution timing and TTL impact on test results. Debugs network bottlenecks using tcpdump and Wireshark analysis.
Independently develops Chaos Engineering tests. Applies test design techniques. Integrates tests into CI/CD. Covers edge cases.
Conducts E2E performance testing: full user journey performance, multi-service latency, end-to-end throughput. Tests with realistic data volumes.
Conducts load testing: ramp-up, steady state, peak load scenarios. Uses k6/Gatling: custom metrics, thresholds, checks. Analyzes: throughput, latency, error rate, resource usage.
Manages test data for performance: realistic data volumes, data distribution matching production. Generates synthetic data. Ensures data isolation between test runs.
Manages performance test environments: dedicated resources, network isolation, baseline configuration. Ensures consistent results: resource monitoring, noise reduction.
Applies the test pyramid for performance: micro-benchmarks (unit level), component load tests (integration), full system tests (E2E). Determines optimal distribution.
Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.
57 skills get a higher expectation or become core when moving from Mid-level to Senior. The biggest jumps first.
} in the open competency matrix: 57 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.